This Cop Left His Gun in the Potty and Forgot About It

Memphis, TN – Off-duty officer Lester Hobbs left his handgun on a bathroom towel rack after using the facilities while at his second job at Dillard’s department store in Oak Court Mall. When he realized he didn’t have his gun, he returned to the bathroom, but surprise–it was gone.

Even though the officer displayed negligence–and to my mind this is more of a “finders keepers” situation–Memphis police are calling the gun “stolen.” They tried to keep the details quiet, and at least one initial news report was made before word of Hobbs’s slip-up was flushed out.

So far, we’ve seen no word on whether Hobbs will face any penalties for his negligence. Video security was not functioning in that part of the store, so there are no leads as to who may have plucked the gun from its perch on the towel rack.

Some mall patrons interviewed by WREG expressed concern about the gun being out of police hands. Personally, I don’t feel better about guns in the hands of law enforcement officers, especially those of an officer who loses his gun and then calls it “stolen.”

WREG reported that this marks the fifth firearm they know of that has gone missing from Memphis police this year.

What do you think? If you leave money or something valuable lying in a public restroom and someone comes along and takes it, is that theft or simply “finders keepers?” And is your answer different when the item of value is a firearm?

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.